Jack stood at his workbench, holding the egg-like stone in his hand as he rubbed his chin, deep in thought. Lucius and Whisper watched him from the side, observing as Jack considered whether he should also bind himself to a mythical creature like Lucius had.

"A Minotaur, huh?" Jack asked without looking away from the stone in his hand. "Why give it to me, though? Why not use it yourself?"

Lucius stepped away from the workbench, listening to Jack's words as he wandered around the forge, inspecting the various items Jack was working on. He picked up a strip of red leather etched with intricate inscriptions that emanated an intriguing magical energy as he casually replied, "I can't. First, the power in that stone doesn't suit me, so it would reject my attempt to bind it. Second, I'm not strong enough to bind two mythical creatures at once. It's possible, apparently—according to Whisper—but I would need to be at least C-Class, and the creature’s power would have to suit my aspect and soul."

Jack furrowed his brows, continuing to stare at the stone with growing fascination. He glanced at Whisper briefly studying the mythical creature one more time before returning his attention to the object, stroking its warm, shiny surface.

"I could use an assistant in the forge, plus who wouldn't want the boosted strength and healing ability of a Minotaur? Anyway, you said I can always remove the binding by slaying the creature if it turns out to be a bad choice, right?"

Whisper looked up, visibly offended by Jack’s suggestion that he might kill the creature. Noticing the bat's exaggerated expression, Jack reached over in an attempt to pat the creature's head but the small bat scurried out of his reach as it stuck it's tongue out at him from across the workbench. He brought his hand back in defeat as he attempted to explain himself.

"Relax, Whisper... That would only happen in the worst-case scenario." He set the stone down on the workbench as he turned his attention back to Lucius. "Okay, how do I bind it?"

Lucius completed his stroll around the workshop, returning to the bench where Jack and Whisper waited. When he heard the question he shrugged as he looked back at Jack.

"No idea. Each stone has a unique binding method. I just got lucky—I was bleeding a lot when I found Whisper's stone, but if anyone can help you figure it out, it’s him."

Jack looked down at the pouting bat expectantly, but Whisper turned his head away in a childish display of displeasure. Jack's earlier comment had clearly struck a nerve. Lucius shook his head before lifting the small creature in his hands and placing it in front of Jack.

"Jack’s a good friend of mine, Whisper. He won’t hurt the creature unless he has no choice. Please help him."

Whisper’s demeanor softened at Lucius' words. Seemingly dropping his grudge for the time being, the bat stepped closer to the egg-like stone. Running a winged arm across its surface, he explained, "I can’t tell you exactly what to do. You’ll need to figure that out on your own. But the power in this stone carries the traits of great physical strength and bodily endurance. You must demonstrate your compatibility with those traits."

Jack scratched his head, narrowing his eyes at Lucius, "Did you have to do anything like that? I thought you just bled on it."

Whisper's lips pulled back into a wide grin as he tilted his chin up arrogantly and answered the question in place of Lucius.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Father was able to bind me in such a simple way because his aspect suits my power of shadows. You aren't so lucky."

Jack nodded at the explanation, lifting the stone closer to his eyes. "Physical strength is straightforward enough. But what does 'bodily endurance' mean exactly?"

"It refers to a body that can endure significant damage without failing," Whisper explained.

"Fine, last question. Do I need to worry about damaging the stone?"

Whisper shook his head with his winged arms crossed tightly across his chest when he heard the question.

"You do not possess the power to damage such a thing."

Jack studied the stone for a moment longer before shrugging and walking over to the forge with it. First he simply attempted to hammer the stone on his anvil, but no matter how hard he struck, the object remained unchanged. Next he placed it in the forge, but after a few minutes in the flames its surface was still lukewarm to the touch and it hadn't responded. Only when Jack reached into the flaming forge to retrieve the stone with his bare hand did it suddenly emit a faint glimmer of light.

Jack froze when he finally got a reaction, staring at the stone as Whisper jumped up and down excitedly behind him.

"That’s it! Hold the stone in the fire with your hand!"

Jack followed Whisper's instructions, and the glimmering light grew a bit brighter, becoming easily visible even through the bright flames. He stood there for several minutes expectantly, but a look of frustration continued to grow on his face when nothing else happened, and even the light that had been emitting thus far began to dim.

"It’s not enough," Jack muttered. "We’re missing something."

Gritting his teeth, Jack plunged his other hand into the fire, gripping the stone tightly between his palm. His muscles tensed, veins bulging on his face and arms as he used all the strength he could muster against the stone. The ability to endure the heat with his bare hands, combined with the display of strength seemed to satisfy the stone, which suddenly transformed into a flood of light brown smoke, Jack's hands smacking together the moment there was nothing holding back his strength.

The flood of smoke spiraled up Jack's arm and around his body before gathering into a three-foot-tall cloud on the floor. The morphing and flowing of the cloud started to slow down as it began taking on a more defined shape. Soon the outline of a small Minotaur could be clearly observed, but it was vastly different from the one Lucius had slain. This new creature had thin, light brown fur, no horns, and a face that looked almost like a baby deer. At the end of it's thin arms were three fingers and a thumb on each hand, while its legs ended in thick, black hooves.

Lucius pulled a hooded sweatshirt from his storage ring and draped it over the small Minotaur when its large chest finished forming. The two mounds at the center of the creature's chest allowed them to immediately determine that the creature was female, and even beneath the large sweater the unmistakable shape was still easily identifiable.

The newly born female Minotaur looked down at her own body, examining the over-sized sweater that Lucius had placed on her, then she cast her gaze past Lucius and Whisper until her eyes finally stopped on Jack. The pleasant sound of a young woman's soft voice entered into the minds of everyone present as she spoke for the first time.

"It's v-very good to meet you."

Waving one four fingered hand at Jack, the Minotaur crawled under the workbench and curled into a ball, pulling the hood up over her head. Jack watched, incredulously, as the creature's chest began to rise and fall deeply beneath the baggy clothes, while soft snoring sounds spread across the room. Lucius walked over and clapped Jack on the back as he did his best to suppress the laughter after seeing Jack's stunned face. When Jack looked up at him he quickly cleared his throat to hide his smile.

"Ahem. That behavior is normal. They need to rest when they’re first born. You’ll need to pick a name for her. Once she’s rested, you can talk to her about using her power. Be careful, though. If I’m right, the Minotaur’s power might increase your size quite a bit. Best to test it outside."

Jack continued to stare at the sleeping creature, blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes before Lucius shifted the topic to something that could always get Jack’s attention. "Anyway, I took a few materials from the creatures I've fought recently. I need you to use your aspect to upgrade some of it for me."